Parables of Clippety (4) - Jellyfish

 

The train pulled into Liverpool Lime Street and both women immediately became shiny eyed, the corners of their lips turned up and their hearts beat faster as they pulled their little suitcases up the carriage to the exit doors. They stepped off the train and walked quickly along the platform. Clare was wearing high heels, she hated her short legs and despite finding high heeled shoes increasingly uncomfortable, she couldn’t bring herself to stop wearing them. ‘Oh my god Marni, look, there’s no turnstyles,’ she said, ‘we can just bloody walk straight out!’

 

‘Wow. I don’t know why you bothered buying those expensive tickets, we could have got a free ride.’

 

‘Errr...because we wouldn’t have been able to get onto the train at Birmingham New Street in the first place without them, not without jumping the turnstiles and being arrested. So you’re happy for us to break the law are you?’

 

‘But we plan to be committing crime later on today, remember?’ Marni whispered.

 

Clare shook her head quickly which combined with her abrupt steps as she drilled her heels into the platform had the effect of wobbling her jowls. ‘No! Not the same thing, not the same thing at all. The only crime here is that we didn’t do it sooner, claim what is rightfully ours. Look, when something’s the right thing to do, it’s...you know, the right thing to do!’

 

They left the station building and stepped out into the bright city with gasps and sighs. ‘It’s not how I imagined,’ Marni said, grinning, ‘it’s so much nicer.’

 

‘I agree….I agree with you. Just look at all the buildings, they’re so huge.’ It seemed to Clare that everything about Liverpool appeared to be marinated in a sort of rosy glaze, not exactly rose-tinted, it was more of a red colour, like peering through the cellophane from the Strawberry Cream in a tin of Roses. ‘I knew it,’ she said, ‘this place is the centre of the universe.’

 

They followed Google maps towards their hotel, passing the Beatles statue, the Liver Building and on towards the docks where they stopped on a bridge and stared down into the historical waterway. ‘Jellyfish!’ Marni yelled.

 

‘Jellyfish? Can’t be, it’s just litter isn’t it or tissues from the sewer. Oh you are silly sometimes Marni.’

 

‘No! Look, there's loads of them.’ 

 

 

 

Clare looked again, peering down into the Mersey until she saw the little creatures swimming, appearing to inflate their soft, bell-like bodies as they propelled through the salty waters. ‘I wouldn’t have expected to see jellyfish, not today.’

 

‘Me neither. It’s a sign Clare.’

 

‘A sign of what?’

 

‘A good sign. Our trip, it’s going to be, well, trippy.’

 

Their one night stay was booked at one of those express hotels where the reception is hidden away on one the upper floors, it had been carefully chosen by Clare because it suited their purpose perfectly. There was no way they could sneak their high-profile prey past a busy concourse, it would have been far too risky.

 

‘Ooh, my feet are killing me!’ Clare said as they entered the lift, both checking their reflections in the mirror. ‘I’m excited now. We’re finally going to meet him, touch him!’ 

 

Marni nodded her head like an excited little dog. ‘I know,’ she whispered, ‘and it’s going to change our lives.’

 

The room was spacious and clean with an enormous bed which they both flopped onto, laughing hysterically, shaking off their shoes and waving their feet in the air. ‘What a view!’ Clare said as she got up and stood in front of the small window. You could see right across the Mersey to Birkenhead; the cool grey water had a foreboding quality that seemed to hint at all the grubby, hard-fought history, the human endurance and suffering woven into the endless turning tides. ‘It’s wonderful to see so much water. I suppose it’s tidal here, it will probably go out later and we’ll see the sand at the bottom.’

 

Marni had her eyes shut with her hands placed over them. ‘I thought it looked like a bad cup of tea,’ she said.

 

‘I’ve got to go and fetch the hire car in a moment. The faux number plates are in my bag.’

 

‘You’re so organised Clare. I know I’ve said it before but I honestly wouldn’t do anything without you. I’m bloody hopeless I am.’

 

‘No you’re not.’

 

Marni was still lying on the bed, she nodded. ‘I am. I was never great but since my marriage broke up and…’

 

‘Hey,’ Clare pointed at some space above her head and said, ‘I’ve been there too, remember!’

 

‘I know you have..but with me, I don’t know, it’s different. I think it was all the IVF rounds, they heated my brain, all the cells merged together and melted. Honestly my brain is like one of those jellyfish. I find Clare, that increasingly, I’m living in a semi-daydream just about all of the time and if I do manage to jolt myself into reality then the stress of it is just too much for me. I always need something to catch me, to soften the blow; speaking of which…’ Marni stood up and started rummaging in her holdall. She pulled out a dreamcatcher, the sort with feathers sticking out of it and hung it from the curtain rail.

 

‘What the heck’s that for?’

 

‘To clear the air, filter out nightmares.’

 

‘Looks grubby,’ Clare laughed and dived into her handbag, she pulled out a lipstick and applied it until her lips shone like red tinted glass. ‘It’s only a short walk.’

 

‘To where?’

 

‘The carhire place. I’ve booked a white Audi.’

 

‘A white Audi, oooh!’

 

‘I know right. I think he’ll like that, it’s German, it’s bright white, just like his teeth and it’s expensive. You’ll be alright won’t you?’ 

 

‘Be alright with what?’

 

‘Here, on your own, while I go pick it up. Don’t go anywhere….and please eat the other half of that sandwich. I don’t want you fading away, we might need our strength later.’

 

Marni suddenly felt anxious, churned up at the thought of being alone in the hotel. ‘Maybe I should come with you.’

 

‘No, I’ll be okay. Take a look out of the window at the beautiful view, there’s a chair there, just relax, look at the water and the blue sky.’

 

‘Clare?’

 

‘What?’

 

‘Are Jurgen’s eyes blue?’

 

‘Mmm, no, I don’t think so. They’re more a dirty grey or green, like the Mersey there. His eyes are the colour of the Mersey or perhaps the Rhine is more appropriate.’

 

‘Don’t talk like that. He’s ours now Clare.’

 

‘Got to go now. See you shortly. Be good here, by yourself, don’t press any buttons or touch anything.’